Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Session 61b

Deep inside the second-stage stasis field masquerading as a black hole, Ben and Jacob were bringing the Sabership into position near the galactic senate building. Inside, trapped in an instant, Huriel was in the midst of using the pyramid technique to channel the massed strength of Coruscant – and perhaps it’s entire solar system – [...]

The Educated Designer

If You Don’t Know Something – Learn! In Thoth’s recent article on Infravision, he stated: Sure, you can say that the physics of your world works some other way – but then you’re going to have to build and explain that physics as soon as someone starts experimenting (if you want to go that route, [...]

Cyberpunk Street Occupations and Backgrounds

As a general rule, most street characters will have the “Streetwise” general skill, and many will also have area lore, begging, or something similar. For their occupations, and their more important skills, roll 1d40: . . Unskilled Occupations: Special Notes and Requirements 01) Acolyte Enough patience to hang around and be respectful with a straight [...]

Playing with Extradimensional Spaces

Here we have another question from Alzrius… The Practical Enchanter offers some great spells for creating extradimensional spaces, but what about ways to manipulate such spaces (though this borders on planar travel in some areas)? How do I break into someone else’s extradimensional space, or ward them from breaking into mine? How can I take [...]

Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Session 41

   Session 41 was the thanksgiving weekend session – and thereby was short several players and turned out to be a bit short. This will happen…    With the number of people stuffed into stasis having grown to rather large proportions what with the phony plagues, the resistance was asking for direction on what to [...]

Thaumaturgic Variations – Amnesia Magic

   Like most of the magic systems in Eclipse, Thaumaturgy is open-ended. Characters are free to name and develop their own fields of magic and the eight occult skills within it – and most Thaumaturgists do so, making each one unique.    This time around, it’s one of the more off-the-wall fields out there – [...]

Eclipse Pathfinder – The Cleric

   Next up in the “how to build Pathfinder characters in Eclipse” series is the Cleric.    Once again, that’s not too complicated; simply insert Fast Learner at level zero, and you’ll have the points to spend to update to later standards. All you have to do is to ignore all the options that you [...]

Eclipse Pathfinder – The Barbarian

   There have been a number of requests for a “Pathfinder Upgrade” to Eclipse.    Well, while Pathfinder did make a fair number of changes to spell lists, skill lists, and various other items, most of that has nothing to do with Eclipse. Eclipse already allows the use of custom spell lists, variant skills, and [...]

RPG Design – Overkill Penalties

   Despite the “min-maxers”, the “munchkins”, the “optimizers”, and the “power-gamers” (all good in moderation actually, but some players just don’t know when to stop), bigger is not always better – and even if it is, there are always things bigger than you. It’s a very large universe. Overkill is not always a good thing, In [...]

RPG Design – The Common Humanity

   This question was directed towards the Village Heroes series – but it deserves a more general answer. “Why are all of these characters human?”    Well…    The vast majority of RPG’s focus on humans – and most of the ones that don’t actually focus on humans focus on almost-humans with a few quirks or [...]

Hedge Magic Heroes Part VI

   Here we have another sixteen sample Hedge Magic spells, including the six remaining sample second level spells for the hedge magic spell list and ten spells from levels zero to two designed for more technological realms. Notably, this section includes the Laborer’s Word, which is perhaps the pinnacle of hedge wizardry.    Like all [...]

Latest Material Index

. It’s once again time to get the latest material index updated and to transfer the material from the old one to the main index tabs at the top of the page. If you want the very latest material, it may be necessary to either scroll down or consult the “Recent Posts” listing-widget on the [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part XI, Aftermath

   For the final entry in this series, we have the backstory and aftermath – both things which adventures are never really complete without. Here, also, are some Shadowrun statistics for the T’skrang and a few other details.    Sirdis – now better known as Osiris, the keeper of the spirits of the dead – [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part X

   Confronted by an elder mage of the previous Age of Magic, Yseult hesitated, thoughts tumbling. So MANY secrets here… A story that might take weeks to tell.    Still, they only had an hour or so if the deadline they’d been given – sunset – was at all accurate. It would be best to [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part IX

   Communications with the Set-figure simply didn’t seem practical; there was just too much difference in the time rates – and there really wasn’t any way for them to slow down to match (despite her momentary fantasy of downclocking her cyberware and headware memory, there really wasn’t any safe way to slow down her brain [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – The Great Doors

      For a little more detail on Yseult’s current puzzle, here we have the layout of the Chamber of the Sphinx, from the great, mystical symbol-inscribed, doors on the left to the collapsed stairs to the right.    Perhaps sadly, Yseult gained entry to this set of chambers through the tunnel left where “Apep” had [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part VIII

   Getting a rush job on cyberware repairs in Cairo wasn’t easy. Even the half-assed repairs Yseult eventually wound up with – most of which would have to be redone later to get her systems up to specifications – cost a bundle.    But she wasn’t giving up now – and her improvised little team [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part VII

   Everyone was in agreement: if they were going to work in the catacombs, they had to take out the serpent-thing. You never knew when an animal would turn at bay instead of being driven off, they had no idea of how it could be contained (or even IF it could be contained), and nobody [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part VI

   So; equipment for exploring a set of ancient, partially-submerged catacombs filled with sinkholes and possibly with deadly, highly-magical, awakened predators from a prior age. A lost world of ancient perils!    Oh good LORD. NOW she knew why all this seemed so familiar! Ancient Egyptian magic, giant snakes, hidden catacombs, haunts, curses, and lost [...]

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part V

   The trip had been relatively uneventful, even if she had had to make a lot of special arrangements to get the artifacts from the crypt and her own gear through customs. Still, sealed shipping sufficed for most of it; it wasn’t like she normally carried anything heavier than a pistol and some flash grenades. [...]